good morning, america. i'm bianna golodryga. >> and i'm dan harris. this is saturday, september 4th. >> this morning, breaking news. a weakened but potent earl slams into new england, bringing powerful winds, heavy rains and towering waves with it. we're live across the northeast. what happened to president obama's so-called recovery summer? new numbers show more job losses. and now, the president says he has a new plan to revive the economy. but can it pass? and will it work? tense moments. newly-released 911 calls from the discovery building hostage standoff. it shows just how dangerous the situation was. >> you're gonna need a sniper, asap. and need for speed. erin andrews takes us inside a nascar race car as it hits top speeds.

can she handle 4 gs at 170 miles per hour? good morning, america. and good morning, dan harris. just back from iraq, where you were covering the official end to the combat mission there. you did a great job covering that. >> thank you. i came back just to be here with you. >> it's good to see you. want to talk about the weather this weekend. hurricane earl is now tropical storm earl. it moved past long island as a category 1 hurricane about 8:00 p.m. last night. 11:00 p.m., it was downgraded to a tropical storm, with sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. it was that strength it swept by cape cod and nantucket. coming within 80 miles of that island. >> so, the good news is that storm wasn't that bad. no hurricane-force winds. no widespread damage. the bad news is that the storm has created some serious migraines on this labor day

weekend, with travel delays, dangerous 15-foot waves in some areas and a ton of rain in new england. in north carolina this morning, they're trying to get those flooded roads open again, so vacationers can get back out to the outer banks. now, we're hearing that there are two more storm systems teed up out in the atlantic. we'll have more on that coming up. we have reporters out across the northeast. we begin with linsey davis, who was up all night, weathering the storm in chatham, massachusetts, on cape cod. good morning, linsey. >> reporter: good morning, bianna. i know the sky looks kind of ominous behind me. the water has calmed down considerably. and the really good news, there's nothing but blue sky. we are starting to see sunshine come in this direction. many people are waking up here this morning saying, what storm? and i changed my labor day weekend plans for what, exactly? cape cod has weathered nor'easters much tougher than earl. the winds and waves swelled for several hours friday night,

pounding the new england coast with what was billed as the roughest summer storm in nearly 20 years. just before midnight, it was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm. but from where we stood, it was hard to tell. it's just a little bit after 11:30 at night. and what a difference here. the rain, the wind, the surf, all really picking up. and that's with earl still about 90 miles southeast of here. we're expecting it to arrive in about two hours and really get the brunt of it then. it will be carrying with it up to 70-mile-per-hour winds. the big wallop we were expecting veered northeast quickly. and spared much of new england. cape cod in particular, which was expected to get hit hardest. shelters were set up for worst-case scenarios. >> cape coders, like most new englanders, are hearty people. and they're not going to go to a shelter unless they absolutely have to. >> reporter: fortunately, most won't have to. >> steve lacy, you were here on vacation. >> reporter: wcvb reporter, steve lacy, was on vacation,

right in the thick of the weather, in nantucket. >> just a mess right now. i think what's going to be interesting, though, for people like me, who were on vacation, through labor day. they're going to have beautiful weather. except for the hurricane. that one day in between. >> reporter: now, there are a few isolated power outages and some minor flooding. but the really bad news is for the businesses here. many of the hotels are only at 50% occupancy. the good news is that people coming at the last minute, they can still get a hotel on cape cod. and the chamber of commerce tells me that there's hundreds of weddings planned for cape cod today, in particular. so, a lot of happy brides, much relieved. dan? >> i can imagine how nervous those brides have been over recent days. linsey, thank you. earl, by the way, is moving northeast, up toward nova scotia and maine, where it's expected to hit land later today. there are still tropical storm warnings for much of coastal maine. but so far, minimal impact.

and russ murley, who is the chief meteorologist for our portland, maine, affiliate wmtw, is out on the coast. he joins us from harpswell. russ, good morning to you. >> reporter: tropical storm earl is quickly moving through the gulf of maine this morning. it has low impact on the coast of maine. down to a light, drizzly rain right now. winds are starting to pick up a little bit. we're expecting clearing later today. again, tropical storm earl has been a fairly low-impact storm here along the coast of maine. we're looking for clearing skies later on this afternoon. back to you. >> russ, thank you. as we said, perhaps the most serious damage earl did was to people's labor day vacation plans. amtrak canceled trains between richmond, virginia, and virginia beach. and suspended service until this morning between new york and boston. southwest airlines canceled 65 flights. while continental canceled about 60 departures from its hub at newark's liberty airport. and marysol castro is in

montauk, new york, with more on the travel angle. mary, good morning to you. >> good morning, dan. good morning, everyone. here at ditch plains, the aftermath. here, there was a lot of debris that washed ashore on the beaches and throughout the city streets. the other issue, of course, was the rough surf. at the height of the storm, 30-mile-per-hour to 40-mile-per-hour wind gusts. and very rough seas. 16-foot seas. this morning, you can still see the seas are angry. a few brave souls out there. but this is much calmer than what we saw overnight. heavy rain drenched long island, as earl pushed northward. massive waves scattering debris along the shoreline. nature's wrath making the roads unsafe. hundreds of vacationers here in montauk are holed up in their hotel rooms, as the driving rain and wind pass through. last-minute emergency preparation include sandbags. one hotel went so far as to distribute glow sticks in each and every hotel room, in the event of a power outage. earlier in this parking lot, a giant surge crashed over the

dunes, nearly swamping our cameraman. a similar wave here pushed this tree trunk ashore, injuring a 5-year-old girl. as high tide approached, town police ushered onlookers inside to safety. >> let's go, guys. >> reporter: while thrill-seeking kite surfers got the ride of their lives. the storm mostly spared maryland and new jersey's coastline friday, when a cold front and jet stream shifted earl out into the atlantic. >> this is my first hurricane. i was expecting more wind and more rain. >> reporter: north carolina sustained minimal damage in the outer banks. flooding up to three feet was reported in the hardest-hit areas, along with scattered power outages and this damaged gas station. >> it's not as bad as it could have been. could have been a lot worse. >> reporter: 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate. but as the storm moved away, residents and business owners were encouraged to come back. >> we dodged a bullet, purely and simply. >> yeah. they may have dodged a bullet.

but remember, we're at the peak of hurricane season. as we show you on the maps, we're keeping an eye on two, separate systems. the first one is a tropical low. if it develops into anything, right now it's in the atlantic. if it develops into anything, it will become tropical storm gaston. and then, closer to the coast of africa, we're keeping an eye on another system. we have a few days out until that turns into anything. if it does develop into a storm, that will be tropical storm hermine. we'll keep an eye on all of this for you. i'll have my regular forecast later on in the show. dan? >> i'll take that, mary. thank you. meantime, on the other side of the world, new zealand is also dealing with a major natural disaster. a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit the country's second-biggest city, christchurch, in the early morning hours. miraculously, no one was killed. nick schifrin has the latest from london. good morning, nick. >> reporter: it was the most destructive earthquake to hit that area in 80 years.

and today, the prime minister is saying that the damages that that quake caused are probably about $1.5 billion. new zealand is in a state of emergency. a violent, powerful earthquake damaged hundreds of buildings, crumpled at least six bridges. twisted railroads and burst water mains, submerging entire villages. >> oh, my gosh. well, that shake lasted probably over a minute. we've got no power. we've got no water. >> i heard people screaming. and maybe a child crying. >> this one, it felt really huge. you know, if it had gone on any longer, or been any stronger, the walls could have caved in of our house. >> this is it. the earthquake. >> reporter: the earthquake seen in this home video, hit in the middle of the night. this man's house survived. but the infrastructure damaged is widespread. many buildings caught fire.

and rescue teams are searching for people who might still be trapped. the quake was as large as the one that killed more than 200,000 in haiti. but here, nobody died. and most buildings didn't collapse, thanks to new zealand's strong construction codes. >> i think we've been extremely lucky, as a nation, that there has been so far no reported fatalities. i think that's just -- we're blessed, actually. >> reporter: and in new zealand tonight, there will be a curfew, after reports that the mood in the city is, quote, frantic. the people lining outside of gas stations. and nobody without any power or water. dan? >> nick, thank you. that's nick schifrin in london, this morning. now, to an unpleasant bit of irony as we head into labor day, when we honor the country's workers. new job numbers show more people are out of work. we lost 54,000 jobs last month. the unemployment rate rose to 9.6%. and nearly 15 million people are now unemployed in this country. so, what happened to what the

obama administration had been calling the recovery summer? our david kerley is in washington, d.c. this morning on that story. david, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dan. not much of a recovery. the numbers really weren't as bad as expected. but they're not really good. so, this holiday weekend, the white house is working overtime, trying to come up with a new plan to stimulate some job growth before november's election. the numbers aren't great. unemployment up. more jobs lost than gained last month, with census workers being laid off. but the president didn't mention any of that. only highlighting the 67,000 jobs added in the private sector. >> that's positive news. and it reflects the steps we've already taken to break the back of this recession. but it's not nearly good enough. >> reporter: a sign of how difficult it is to find good news in the numbers. >> we've lowered the bar on what we expect from the economy so low, that it's not hard to exceed that hurdle. the hurdle is now the ground.

>> reporter: so much for recovery summer. the president is now ready to do more. >> i will be addressing a broader package of ideas next week. >> reporter: in a speech and news conference next week, the president will lay out his new economic package. and you will not hear the word stimulus. >> stimulus these days is a dirty word. people associate it with bailouts. and the bottom line is, they think the original stimulus package, as big as it was, just didn't work. >> reporter: the president will undoubtedly call on congress to pass the bill giving tax and loan breaks to small business. also under consideration, a payroll tax holiday. if an employer hires a new worker, they won't have to pay payroll taxes temporarily. and another big question, will the president continue to push for letting the bush tax cuts expire for those making more than $250,000 a year. >> you can bet, nobody's going to be raising taxes. everybody will be doing all they can to lower taxes. nobody wants to go to the polls

looking like they raised taxes or defending an increase in taxes at this stage of the game. >> reporter: so, expect a very big week, talking about the economy from the white house and the president. he started it this morning in his weekly address. he says his policies, so far, have at least stopped the k yviat least stopped the and for more on the president's latest plans to jump-start the economy, let's bring in chief economics correspondent fo "te street journal," jon hilsenrath, who's joining us from washington. good to see you, jon. >> thanks, bianna. >> let's walk through this. we saw more private jobs added th that led to a major rally on wall street. good news for wall street. how should main street be reacting to this report, though >> this is consnt w ot of other things that we which suggests, "a," is not going ito a recession. that's good news. but the bad news is, the recovery is so slow, that it's barely creating anjo 67,000 is not enough to get the

unemployment rate down. so, we're in a long, hard slog. and it's not going to improve anytime soon. and certainly not, i don't think, with another short-term stimulus plan. >> so, the focus turns to the president. what we're going to hear from him next week. a lot of pressure about putting something more out there to stimulate this economy. what can he really do? and what do you expect to hear next week? >> well, you know, you laid it out in your package. the talk is of some short-term tax stimulus. it's interesting that the president, you know, even before the election, we're seeing that the president has to start competing on republican ground. we're talking about tax cuts and not spending. but frankly, what i see here is potentially a distraction. the economy has long-term problems. and that's one of the things that's been demonstrated in the last few months. and most particularly, a long-term deficit problem. and no one's talking about that. no one is talking about what they are -- what washington is going to do to reduce, over the

long run, a budget deficit which is holding the economy -- which has the potential to hold the economy back. >> clearly, that's an issue. but most americans are concerned about the short-term and getting a job. i want to go through what at least was an encouraging sign in this jobs report. that's the number of people who are out of work for six months or longer went down slightly. is that encouraging? or is that a sign of people giving up and not looking for work? >> i'm glad you picked up on that, bianna. i picked that out as one of the things that is potentially encouraging. it's bad news when people stay out of work for a long time. research has shown the longer you're out of work, the harder it is to get back into work. we've seen some of that decline for the last few months. some of it might be because people, like you say, are just dropping out of the workforce. it's possible that there are other factors. you know, it is the case that there was a tax credit -- tax stimulus passed this summer that gave employers some incentives

to hire people that were out of work for a long time. we're seeing improvement about that. that's something to be encouraged about. again, there's a really, really long way to come out of that. there's a lot of people watching this, saying, i've been out of work for 12 months. where's mine? we saw small improvements. not a lot of big ones. >> we touched on the issue of a double-dip recession. in your view, do you think that's dissipated? >> i do think it's dissipated. the fears of it have dissipated. the stock market has stabilized. the job market, really, it didn't contract all summer. it's been teetering along. so, hopefully what's going to happen over the next few months is some of the fears that we had this summer are going to dissipate. things will stabilize and confidence will slowly build. but this brings me back to the point i was making before. i don't know that it improves business confidence and consumer confidence to see the guys in washington lurching from one policy to another. scrambling to come up with

something to get things right. i think there needs to be some long-term planning about problems that the economy's facing. that can't happen until after the election. and we know who's running congress. >> that's right. all eyes will be on that election. thanks for joining us. we appreciate it, jon. >> thank you. >> even if more americans are starting to get jobs, their wages aren't necessarily increasing, either. that's another factor people are concerned about. >> as you point out, tough to get anything done during the political silly season. now, let's go to a man who is anything but silly. ron claibas t adl formoni t >> good morning, welcome back. good morning, everyone. the security company blackwater is accused f cr net of e th0 shpani to try to get m of dollars in federal contracts. "the new epor that the network of falte investigation. the shell compni allegedly c blackwater lost contract over killings of iraqi

civilians and other abuses. a suicide bombing in southwest pakistan killed at least 65 people and wounded 1 others. the explosion targeted a group of shiite muslims on a religious procession on friday. the taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. and bp has removed the damaged blowout preventer from the site of this summer's massive oil spill. the preventer failed to stop oil from gushing into the gulf. it's been raised to the surface as part of an investiti1h sp nd torket giant egg recall, say they reported safety violations, such as leaking manure and dead chickens, to the usda, the agriculture department. but nothing was done. the usda tells abc news, that their workers were only supposed to judge the quality of eggs. and the fda, the food and drug administration, is responsible for safety. and federal investigators have ruled a fire at a planned mosque site in tennessee was arson. the future mosque faced local opposition. a $20,000 reward is offered to information leading to an arrest.

finally, zebras. zebras on the streets of moscow. or at least horses painted to look like zebras. the animals were stationed at school crossings around the city, called zebra crossings, in an effort to get drivers to watch more closely and more carefully for children. see if that works out. >> i love the creative russians. the russian mind. >> pretty wild. >> national pride that you're feeling. >> i'm all-american pride here. >> keep you updated on the story. >> right. follow that for us. marysol, don't know if you heard that. if there's any zebras crossing out in montauk. but fill us in on the rest of the weather. >> one never knows what one might come across here in montauk. but today, for sure, lots of sunshine. it's absolutely gorgeous. and this will be the picture up and down the northeast for today in the wake of tropical storm earl. it's going to be beautiful. lots of sunny skies. boston, checking in at 85 degrees. here in montauk, 82.

83 in nags head, north carolina. we're still keeping an eye on some of the rough surf. for the most parts, just absolutely gorgeous. unfortunately, maine, you're going to see some afternoon showers.h@ thanks so much. more on your saturday forecast later on in the show. dan and bianna? >> mary, thank you. coming up on "gma," chilling 911 tapes shed new light on the tense hostage drama at the

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that is the aftermath of earl, up and down the east coast. it is now a tropical storm, moving northeast off the coast of maine towards canada. we're live from cape cod, which got hit with driving rain, heavy winds and huge waves overnight. good morning, america. i'm bianna golodryga. >> and i'm dan harris. it is saturday, september 4th. as you mentioned, i just got back from iraq, where it was 120 degrees. and i come home to a tropical storm. >> bad weather follows you everywhere. >> it does. it does. also coming up this morning, we have the 911 tapes from the hostage standoff at the discovery headquarters this week. the tapes paint a picture of panic and hysteria. but also a methodical plan by police to take the gunman down.

plus, it turns out that labor day is a big shopping weekend, both in the malls and online, especially if you're struck in and dealing with rain like we are in the northeast. we'll show you how to find the best labor day sales on clothes to electronics. we asked "gma" special contributor, erin andrews, who is probably reconsidering that title right now, to get into a car, going nearly 200 miles per hour. fortunately, she was chauffeured by a nascar legend. we're going to go live to her in just a minute. we begin with the latest on earl, now a tropical storm, moving quickly past the coast of maine, headed toward nova scotia. over night, martha's vineyard, cape cod and nantucket got the worst of the storm. linsey davis has been up all night on the cape. and she joins us. good morning, linsey. >> reporter: good morning, bianna. nothing but blue skies and sunshine right now. few scattered clouds. but those are expected to go away within the next few hours. so, many of the husbands who made their wives hunker down and

stick out this storm here on the cape, they're pretty much looking like heroes today. though, it very easily could have gone the other way. while earl didn't quite live up to its billing as a monster storm that posed the biggest threat to new england in 20 years, it did certainly cause some damage. some incredibly rough surf. some cases of flooding and some isolated power outages. what we still don't know is the economic fallout, as vacations were shortened or canceled in the popular resort areas along the cape. but the businesses looking to profit from the final weekend of summer, they weren't exactly hung out to dry. after all, the forecast for saturday and sunday, sunshine here. i've heard storms described as a big, wet kiss. it seems like that's what cape cod got last night. dan? >> linsey davis, who stayed up all night covering that big, wet kiss for us. thank you. moving on to the hostage crisis at the discovery channel last week. the 911 tapes have just been released. they give you a sense of the

hysteria and the panic of that day. jeremy hubbard has been listening to the tapes. and they also give some insight into how the police went about taking that gunman down, gt? >> they do, dan. it's clear, that some of those at the di workers calling 9, kn suspect right away. he was a familiar and uwelc presence aroundhe b at one int, told 911 operators, you probably going to need a sniper. and the tapes reveal just how methodical officers needed tobe to take out thm he essentially had an ied strapped to his body. it was a harrowing four hours, that began when activist james lee walked into the di building in silver spring, maryland, armed and ready. >> 911. that's the problem? >> yeah. i work at discovery. and i think there's a man with a gun in the lobby. >> he said nobody move. and he shot in the air. and then, i ran. >> i heard five gunshots in the main lobby. >> reporter: tapes from the terrifying ordea jus one after ano, di

channel employe cal >> i saw some men on the gr i see a security guard, with his hands in the a >> there's care. there's a lot of inside. imeoanarter: the gunman who uenproted discovery programming, because in his eyes, the network did little to save the planet. when the 43-year-old's own programming pitches were rejected, he became enraged, ranting online and making bizarre demands of the network. >> he has something in his backpack. it looks like a bomb, ma'am. it's a yebckpappe it looks like a little harness. it has two, yellow bottles and a red one, ma'am. >> he has seven tanks of propane. you're going to need a sniper, asap. >> reporter: police were on the scene in a matter of minutes. eyeing what he was carrying. >> it's like a minibackpack, like two canisters on the outside. looks like a propane bottle on the inside. flashing light in his left hand. >> reporter: in radio transmissions from officers on the scene, you can hear how the team assembled around lee.

>> we have visual contact with the subject. he's in the lobby. >> where do you need me here? i have my sniper rifle. >> reporter: police found lee pointing a gun at one of his hostages. but were able to take him out before anyone was hurt. >> let's go. >> reporter: and we're learning new details about the extent of his plan. inside lee's rented room in this wheaton, maryland, house, investigators looked for clues about how he might have prepd himse >> what? this guy? my roommate? >> reporter: police found materials like this empty can used to test out lee's explosives. devices that were eventually detonated. and a total of four explosive devices were found and detonated at lee's home. we also now know that the end of the hostage drama could have been much more deadly than it was. two discovery channel employees and a security guard were ready to make a break for it when police made their move and shot lee dead, ending that four-hour-long ordeal.

>> dan, you were overseas in iraq. but we were all glued to televi unfold for four hours. it really was terrifying. >> it was harrowing. it seems like it helped that appreciate it. e, n the ronorne >> goodrninvyon in the news, the latest federal jobs report showed the private sector added 67,000 worker august. but the loss of more than 100,000 temporary census jobs still pushed the unemployment rate up slightly. anti-war protesters in island, targeted the former british prime minister, tony blair, in dublin. demonstrators scuffled with police and threw shoes and eggs at a book signing for blair's new memoir. and cyclist employed landis has filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit agnst accusing him of d was riding for the u.s. postal service team. landis stands to gain financially if he wins that lawsuit. finally, newborn twin giant pandas have made their debut at a zoo in japan. the brother and sister were born

on august 11th. that's a quick look at the headlines. now, to marysol on montauk with the weather. mary? >> good morning, everyone. it's absolutely gorgeous here. the aftermath of what was hurricane earl. completely different picture overnight. in thuof n cf1 a. as it passed over that part of the country, the storm was about a cat 2. packing serious winds. 80-mile-per-hour winds. 15-foot seas. this is kill devil hills, north today, though, a completely different story. we continue to track tropical storm earl, as it moves at mile it's a fast-moving storm. direction. making its way toward nova scotia. expected to make landfall later on today. uo today. o soan u you can see minneapolis feeling very much like fall to

thanks so much. this weather report has been brought to you by kellogg's rice krispies treats. dan and bianna, back to you guys. >> mary, thank you. coming up on "good morning america," labor day steals and deals. we'll tell you where to find the best bargains if you're planning on a little retail therapy on this long weekend. plus, erin andrews gets her adrenaline running on a ride along with a nascar legend. she survived. and she's live in atlanta to tell us about it. uh huh. mom, i can walk from here. what about your... mom, i got it. ♪

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labor day weekend is traditionally an important one for retailers. whether it's for last-minute back-to-school shopping or bargain-hunters seeking the perfect sale. now, more than ever, american consumers are searching for the best deals they can get. so, where can you find them? how can you find them? "lucky" magazine style contributor lori bergamotto is here to tell us more. good to see you. thanks for coming in. >> thanks so much for having me. >> let's start off with stuff we

love, clothes. >> this is like shoppers' heaven this weekend. the first deal i found, was at old navy. on oldnavy.com, 20% off your entire purchase. that's a huge savings. the sale does not stop there. all week long, they'll have a labor day deals week. so, every, single day, you have to sign up for their e-mail. they'll let you know. 10% off this. 40% off this. all different things. for kids. for men. for women. you cannot go wrong. >> american eagle outfitters. old navy. like you mentioned, it's back-to-school season. obviously looking for last-minute shopping. but adults can find great deals, too, to get their autumn wardrobe kicked off. >> they can. and you mentioned american eagle. 20% off the entire purchase. so, that's a great thing. you go on the online, ae.com. if you go to the store, they have all sorts of fun deals. buy one tank top, 50% off. and if you're into jewelry, like you and i are --

>> we were discussing offcamera. >> we were. we were. you can go to bloomingdale's. they have 50% off their private label fine jewelry. i'm not talking about $20 necklace. i'm talking about diamond earrings for under $500. >> americans are nesting. spending more time at home. they're home shopping. you can get really good prices. what do we have here? >> exactly. for the everyday shopper, crate & barrel have 60% off their outlet prices. things already reduced, you can get 60% off of that. that's online or at the outlet stores. pottery barn has up to 70% off select items. that's expensive stuff over at pottery barn. and you can get almost 75% off furniture. huge deals. >> that's fantastic. we also love makeup products. there's great bargains out there. >> at ulta.com, 20% off your entire purchase. and they sell everything. and bliss spa. everybody loves bliss. they're on the pricier side. now, you can get 20% off their sets, which are already reduced. so, you can get five things for

the price it would cost you to get two. they're 20% off. they're already reduced. they come in cute, little packs. >> are some of these deals best found online? or actually walking into the store? >> a lot of the deals -- let's start online. the inventory is bigger. so, you're not going to be disappointed. but definitely go -- if you're a person who likes a smaller boutique, go to the store. the thing is, right now, it's not just labor day. we're excited to celebrate labor day. but it's also the end of the summer. people are trying to move that inventory. but summer clothes can be worn all year. you just have to layer them. we're all about layering. so, get in on the bargain. >> walk into the stores. i think dan and ron would walk into a electronics store before they walk into a makeup store. and there's deals there to find, as well. >> i have good news. target is having their biggest tv event of the season. they're calling it an event. it's 40% off the lcd hd-tvs, free shipping and handling.

the $99 shipping and handling, you get that for free if you spend a certain amount. and you can't beat it. now is the time. and mattresses, too. i forgot to mention mattresses. up to 50% off at macy's. on mattresses. these are things that you need. now is the time to buy them because you will get a huge savings. >> they are pricey. mattresses run up to $900 to $1,000. >> and you can get up to 50% off at macy's. and they're doing this other deal. if you buy it on your macy's card, you get a year to pay it off without interest. >> that's fantastic. we appreciate it, lori. thanks for coming in. and coming up, erin andrews 170-mile-per-hour joyride with nascar great dale jarrett.

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there are millions of nascar fans. but very few of them will ever

know what it's actually like to speed around the track at nearly 200 miles per hour. but "gma" special contributor and espn correspondent, erin andrews, got to find out. she is in atlanta this morning, where she will be hosting "college gameday" later this morning. erin, good morning to you. >> thank you so much. you mentioned it. big opening weekend for college football here in atlanta. tonight at the georgia dome, a big matchup between unc and lsu. but down the way, of course, at atlanta motor speedway, nascar sprint cup series is in town for a big, big race. and who better to take me around the track than nascar champ, dale jarrett? >> this is one of the fastest racetracks these guys race on. so, these cars are fun to drive here. we're going to run five or six laps, probably somewhere in the 160-mile-per-hour, 170-mile-per-hour range. ready to go. >> ready. >> that's your side. you crawl in that window. >> what are you talking about? >> there's no doors. they're welded shut.

>> oh, cute. thanks, guys. we have to get a picture of that. is this right? i don't even know. >> yeah. just put them in. slide right in. there you are. welcome. >> thanks for having me. where am i holding on? >> you can hold on to that roll bar. >> okay. white knuckles here. what if i grabbed the steering wheel? >> that would be a bad thing. >> okay. just wondering. >> don't do that. you ready? >> yes, sir. >> all right. ♪ >> i love it. woo. awesome. okay. you drive. i love this. this is great. can we do more? i'm kidding. i cannot thank you enough. that was amazing. i have a new-found respect for what you guys do. cool.

awesome. thank you. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> forget football. i'm doing this now. i'm kidding. dale, how fast did we go? >> about 170. >> we went 185. >> erin, you seemed like you were having fun. but were you scared? like just a little bit? >> i think the buildup of all of it frightened me. i told dale beforehand, i had just had a bagel with strawberry cream cheese. hazelnut coffee with cream and sugar. so, he may be seeing that. once i got in the car. i noticed my voice right there. i sounded like a 10-year-old. it wasn't that scary once he started driving around. a pretty smooth ride. >> erin andrews. we appreciate it. thank you. >> put your hands up. >> thank you for doing it for us. you can watch the emory healthcare 500 live tomorrow night on espn at 7:00 p.m. and we'll be right back.

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we want to say good-bye to mary out in montauk. we will all be in the house here under one roof tomorrow, mary. can't wait to see you. >> she's on one of my favorite beaches of all-time. >> it's beautiful out there. >> very nice. >> we appreciate having you here. will you come back tomorrow? >> i will. thanks for having me. >> see if i'm back. >> stay tuned to abc news throughout the day. >> it was a joke. was a joke

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